NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Overview Castillo de San Marcos National Monument Florida
Contact Information For more information about the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument Foundation Document, contact: [email protected] or 904-829-6506, x227 or write to: Superintendent, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, 1 South Castillo Drive St., Augustine, FL 32084 Purpose Significance
Significance statements express why Castillo de San Marcos National Monument resources and values are important enough to merit national park unit designation. Statements of significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked to the purpose of the park unit, and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Significance statements describe the distinctive nature of the park and inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the most important resources and values of the park unit.
• Primarily constructed of locally quarried coquina stone, Castillo de San Marcos is a remarkably well-preserved example of Star Fortress military architecture and illustrates Spanish military engineering adaptation in the New World.
• Castillo de San Marcos is a tangible representation of more than 250 years of conflict between European colonial powers in what is now the southeastern United States and Spain’s military struggle to protect the vital Gulf Stream trade route.
Built by the Spanish in St. Augustine to • Castillo de San Marcos was the principal fortification in the region from 1672 to 1900, having been occupied by the armies defend Florida and the Atlantic trade of Spain, Great Britain, the Confederate States of America, route, Castillo de san MarCos national and the United States, and has meaningful connections to MonuMent preserves the oldest masonry diverse cultures in St. Augustine and the world. fortification in the continental United States and interprets more than 450 • Castillo de San Marcos, known as Fort Marion at the time, years of cultural intersections. became a military prison for American Indians; including the Seminoles in 1837, Plains Indians from 1875 to 1878, and Apaches in 1886–1887. Fundamental Resources and Values Other Important Resources and Values
Fundamental resources and values are those features, systems, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument contains other processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or resources and values that may not be fundamental to the other attributes determined to merit primary consideration purpose and significance of the park, but are important to during planning and management processes because they are consider in management and planning decisions. These are essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining referred to as other important resources and values. its significance. • Viewshed. From the fort’s gun deck, the viewshed • Castillo de San Marcos. The Castillo de San Marcos and encompasses all approaches to the Castillo, both land its surrounding moat, covered way, ravelin, and glacis are the and water, illustrating how the Castillo dominated the primary nationally significant cultural resources for which surrounding area. The view also includes supporting features the park exists. The coquina fortress and its components of the defensive system such as the glacis hill, Cubo Line, were originally built by the Spanish in 1672–1695 to defend and the City Gate Pillars. the harbor of St. Augustine and to provide a shelter for • Artillery Collection. An artillery collection of 38 Spanish citizens when under attack. The fort continued to pieces, including 24 cannons, 8 howitzers, and 6 mortars, be used by a succession of nations and people, including remained in place when the fort was transferred to the the British, the United States, and Confederate States of National Park Service in 1933. The rest of the artillery has America, each modifying the Castillo in different ways that been acquired through gift, exchange, or loan. The artillery contribute to the fort’s significance and appearance today. is important for interpreting Castillo de San Marcos’ • City Gate Pillars. These coquina pillars were erected in history and its evolution of artillery and adaptations in the 1808 in connection with the reconstruction of the earthwork fortifications because they closely correlate to the park’s Cubo Line in the area. The City Gate was the only opening significant time periods. in the earthwork to the walled city of St. Augustine, which • Archeology. The archeological resources of Castillo de ran westward from the Castillo to the San Sebastian River. San Marcos National Monument include aboriginal and • U.S. Water Battery. During the American territorial period historic sites, structures and middens, features, and objects. in 1821–1845, a modification filled in the original moat These resources are important for the information they on the east side of the fort in 1838–1842 and established have provided on the history of the fort to date and the a barbette-type gun emplacement and Hot Shot Furnace. information future archeological research may reveal. The battery is an example of a modified work of the second system of U.S. seacoast fortifications, the federal program to upgrade the structural defensive systems and artillery of coastal forts. The present sea wall is a modification of the Spanish sea wall to meet the demands of the barbette (protective circular armor mounting) emplacement.
• Ledger Art and American Indian Wall Art from the Incarceration Period. During the period of American Indian incarceration at the fort, prisoners created ledger art illustrating their memories and experiences. Original drawings, created by imprisoned Plains Indians, are housed in the museum collection. In addition, two engravings are on the walls in casemate 15, and serve as tangible reminders of the Indian incarceration period. Description
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Park Castillo De San Marcos The fort was built upon, changed, and adapted to Headquarters National Monument various needs many times throughout its history and numerous owners. During the 18th century, City Gate the fort changed from Spanish control to British Castillo De San Marcos Anastasia and back to Spanish, where it remained until
Ave Menendez Ave St. Augustine Island Florida was purchased by the United States in 1821. In 1825, the War Department changed the Bridge of Lions name of Castillo de San Marcos to Fort Marion in
King St Anastasia Blvd honor of American Revolutionary War General
a t a n z Confederate forces occupied Fort Marion a s R between January 1861 and March 1862 when iv Legend e r it was reoccupied by forces of the United Major Road Local Streets States for the duration of the Civil War. Fort
Water Bodies Q Marion was also used as a prison for members u Park Structure ar ry of the Seminole Tribe in the 1830s and the E C re Park Boundary 0 1,000 2,000 e Feet k Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche, Caddo, Apache, and Arapaho Tribes during the 1870s and 1880s Castillo de San Marcos National Monument was established as the western migration of settlers resulted as Fort Marion National Monument by Presidential in conflicts over land and resources and ultimately led to Proclamation on October 15, 1924. The U.S. War removal of most native peoples from their homelands by the Department administered the site until it was transferred to United States Army. the National Park Service (NPS) in 1933. In 1942, Congress The park protects 11 historic structures centered around restored the fort’s Spanish name, Castillo de San Marcos. Castillo de San Marcos (1672–1695), a diamond-shaped Castillo de San Marcos National Monument comprises bastioned masonry fortification. The associated historic approximately 20 acres in the city of St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida, just north of the city’s central plaza, fronting structures include a moat that encircles most of the fort, a Matanzas Bay. In colonial times, the Castillo de San Marcos ravelin (a triangular fortification), covered way, a grassy glacis, sat at the northern edge of the city where it commanded the city gate pillars, seawall, water battery, hot shot furnace, and land and sea routes leading to the settlement. Today, the core the reconstructed Cubo Line, and the fort green, which is kept area of colonial St. Augustine remains south of the park, with open in accord with Spanish colonial military practice. the modern city growing outward in all directions. Visitors to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument have Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest remaining European opportunities to learn about the history of the fort through fortification in the continental United States. The fortress ranger-led programs, self-guided tours, exhibits, and historic was built by the Spanish between 1672 and 1695, just over weapons demonstrations. During operating hours, visitors one hundred years after the founding of St. Augustine can access the upper level of the Castillo (Spanish for castle) in 1565, the first permanent European settlement in the and look out over the city of St. Augustine and Matanzas Bay. continental United States.